SAILING FROM PANAMA
Finding a ship that was to sail for New Orleans we went aboard and set forth, carrying with us many more tracts and Testaments so that we might cast bread upon the waters among other people.
Soon after leaving the port I noticed a man on board whom we had met in another place. He was a gambler, who traveled and gambled on ships all the time. We had spoken to him of the Bible and about the Lord, but he had said he did not think anyone ought to talk about the Bible and religion, as such talk would make people lose their minds. We were only getting people stirred up, and that wasn’t good. I heard him tell the captain we were missionaries, and that wherever we went we talked about God and the Bible, but he hoped we would not be allowed to do so on this trip.
An Indian woman who came to the meeting and was saved.
Some of the people looked so very aristocratic that the enemy said to me, “You had better not give out tracts and Testaments on this boat, as the people will not listen, for they will think you are a fanatic.” But I felt I must let my light shine here as well as in other places. So I went to my stateroom to pray. I opened my Bible to read and saw in it a little tract, containing these words:
“Have you overcome the worldly opinions of the sect which is everywhere spoken against by taking your stand with it? What would Jesus have you do? Have you done that? If the world has nothing to say against you, Jesus will have nothing to say for you. His grace is sufficient. Ask Him.”
That was a message to my heart. I said, “Lord, I will go through this ship and give out tracts to everyone. Now, Lord, you bless every dear heart, and open to them the Gospel.”
As I passed around the deck giving out tracts, a man and his wife asked what church I belonged to. I told them I belonged to
“The Church of the First Born.”
Then I told them about the Pentecostal people, and how we had received the Baptism of the Holy Spirit, as the people did on the day of Pentecost, and told them that God was pouring out His Spirit on the earth, and that Jesus was coming again soon. They were Seventh-Day Adventist missionaries from Colombia, South America, coming home on furlough. They had been on the field four years, but had only been selling their literature. Nobody had been saved, but they thought that when, they went back again they would be able to do something, as the people would have an understanding of their religion and the keeping of the Sabbath Day. We could see their lives were empty, and that they knew nothing about worshiping God in Spirit and in truth.
We had many talks together about the law of Moses and the ten commandments. We showed them we are dead to the law through the body of Christ, and that we should serve in newness of Spirit and not in the oldness of the letter. Oh, how these dear hearts did respond to the Word of God! They had been reading the many different books of their denomination, but did not have a Bible. We asked them to read the Word of God that would bring Spirit and Life into their lives and we gave them a nice Bible. As we separated in New Orleans, they took my hand and said, “Thank God for sending you on this ship. We felt empty and dry, and now we know what is the trouble. We shall read and pray until we are filled with the blessed Holy Spirit, and when we return to our mission-field we can preach the Gospel to the people.”
A family coming from South America took tracts and Testaments and called for more. They said they were Lutherans, had been raised in that church, felt a lack in their lives, and wanted to have the power and glory of God in their souls. They believed that Jesus was coming soon.
Every time we went into the parlor and sat down we had a congregation, for the poor people were so hungry they would come and ask us to tell them more about this wonderful way.
A great hurricane was sweeping the Gulf. A wireless message had been received that the storm was terrible, and warning us to prepare for it before leaving the port. The blackness was awful on the waters as we went out. As we moved slowly out of the inner harbor, some battleships were having target practice at sea. Two submarines partly submerged, were slowly moving along to keep ships from coming too close to where the sailors were shooting.
The Lord said to me, “Just as those submarines are placed here to protect the ships from the shooting, so I will place My angels around this ship and the storm shall not molest you.”
“Only believe and rest in Me.”
The passengers were frightened, and the captain gave orders to have the storm doors and windows put in, and the ship made ready to meet the terrible hurricane. But on we sailed, and the storm moved on in front of us, all the way to New Orleans. Only once did we get into it a little for a few minutes. The rain came down in floods, the wind blew with great force, thick darkness settled down over the ship, and we were tossed by the great waves that arose. Many became sea-sick and ran to their staterooms for life-preservers. The captain gave orders to have the life boats in readiness.
As we passed into our staterooms, not to get the little cork-and-canvas life preservers that were lying there, but to get in touch with the One Great Life-Preserver, who said He would give His angels charge over us, there came into our hearts a sweet rest and peace. After prayer we arose and went on deck. As I passed through the door I met the captain, who said, “I have been looking for you and your husband, that you might pray for our ship to be saved, as there is no other hope.” He himself lifted up his hand and asked God to drive back the storm. Just then the blackness swept off the decks, the ship straightened up, and the sun smiled down upon us. Surely God giveth His angels charge over us, that we should not dash our feet against a stone.
“Hiding in Thee, hiding in Thee,
Thou blest Rock of Ages, I’m hiding in Thee.”
From that time on we were sailing just behind the big black hurricane. A ship that had been following us was caught in the storm, and for three days and nights they were lost and had no hope of being saved. A young man from this ship rode on the train with us from New Orleans to St. Louis. He told us of the terrible things they suffered. How they all had life-preservers on many times, and were ready to get into the life-boats, as they thought the ship would go down.
On our ship every passenger, officer and member of the crew took tracts and Testaments and read them. The captain told us he was glad to have someone on the ship who knew how to pray. On the previous trip he brought some women from Colon who were dope fiends. The whole boat was in a terrible uproar all the way, and he feared God would let them all go down for such wickedness. He himself knew something of the power of God. He took a Bible and tracts and asked for some of our books for the ship’s library. Shall we not give these men some good books to read at sea?
The gambler, whom I heard say we were always talking about the Lord, came to me and said, “I want to get some papers and a Bible. I have always been a wicked man, but since I have been on this boat I have made up my mind to give my heart to God and live different.” He said he had a Christian mother who taught him to kneel at her knee and say his evening prayer, and he wanted to meet her in Heaven, for he knew she was there.
One of the professors from the Northwestern University was on board. He had been traveling through all the Latin-American countries, gathering information for the new history he was writing. He came to talk with us, saying he was interested in mission work. We gave him all the information we could about the different parts of the country we had visited. He said, “I know you people have something I haven’t. What is it?” He was a member of the Presbyterian church, and had been since he was a very young child. His father was a minister, so he had always been brought up in the church.
As we read the Bible to him and prayed with him, telling him of the great outpouring of the Spirit of God in these last days, and the soon coming of Jesus, he wept like a child, and said he was ready for all God had for him. When he returned to Chicago he would go to a Pentecostal mission, as he knew this was the truth of God. He was a very sweet spirited man, open to the Spirit of the Lord. He took with him many tracts on the Baptism of the Spirit and the Second Coming of Jesus.
A young man, on his way to school in the States, asked for a Bible, saying he had never seen one, but had a great desire to read one. Since hearing us talk so much about it, he thought it must be a wonderful Book. He took a Bible to school with him, also tracts and papers. He was a native of Costa Rica.
As we were leaving the ship at New Orleans people came for more Testaments and tracts to carry away with them. One brother and sister, very wealthy people, traveling for pleasure, took many of the little messengers, the sister saying that when she reached her home in Oklahoma she was going to prepare herself for missionary work. She was tired of the life she had been living, and having seen the awful need of the Central American people, she could never be happy again until she went to help them.
In New Orleans we gave out hundreds of tracts and found many hungry souls. I visited some of the missions there, in search of Pentecostal people, but they told us there were none there. Such a needy city! May the God of Heaven stir our hearts until we are awakened and go forth into every city of the Union with this message of the hour, and the people are reached and the Holy Spirit is poured out upon the earth.
On board the train for St. Louis, we found many hungry hearts ready for the truth, having never heard it before. In the Union Station, St. Louis, we found others who were hungry. They took the tracts and went away pleased to have them. Even in our own city we found people who were eager to hear the Word of God. Many were the precious souls reached by the Bread upon the waters, which we freely cast forth.
We traveled from Granite City, Illinois, to Los Angeles, California, giving out tracts and Testaments. From Los Angeles we sailed to Central America and gave out the Word in every port we came to in Mexico, Central America and Panama. From Panama to New Orleans and Granite City we distributed the Word to thousands. We look back over our journey and see a long white line of Bread that was cast upon the waters, reaching our home in Granite City, where also God is working.
“On the resurrection morning, when we rise to meet our Lord,
When His glory and His victory we shall share,
With un-numbered blood-washed millions we’ll go shouting through the skies,
And His bride ascends to meet Him in the air.
“When the roll is called up yonder,
We’ll be filled with joy and wonder,
When we see the blood-washed number;
Some from every tribe and nation will be there.”